Ah, Donald T. Sterling. Owner of NBA's Clippers. Peddler of nouveau riche, high-rise living. Sometime fake philanthropist. And racist, if you ask some. One of the people you could ask is former Laker Elgin Baylor, who is suing Sterling for discrimination after the African-American was terminated from his job as the Clippers' general manager.

Sterling is duking it out with Baylor, and his attorneys have asked for a court order to keep the ex-baller's legal team from bringing up the very public allegations of housing discrimination Sterling recently faced. You see, Sterling had this little issue with renting to blacks and Latinos at some of his Koreatown buildings, according to tenants who sued him. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed and found that Sterling's property team "rented to far fewer Hispanics and African-Americans in Koreatown which than would be expected."

Donald T. was never convicted of wrongdoing, but he did submit to a $2.75 million settlement with the DOJ over the allegations, a sum that represented "largest monetary payment ever obtained by the department in the settlement of a case alleging housing discrimination in the rental of apartments," according to the department's Civil Rights Division.

Germain? Yeah, man. Baylor says he was let go because of his race and age. And he says, at $350,000 per year, he was paid far less than other general managers in the league. His attorneys would surely like it known in court that Sterling has a history with black folks both in and out of Staples Center.

Dennis Romero has worked on staff at several magazines and newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, where he participated in Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the L.A. riots. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone online, the Guardian, and, as a
young stringer, the New York Times.